The Armored Cavalry
by Goodalwayswins98
Summary: When the Underworld was attacked and besieged by Glowgen Defense Systems and the Dark Knights... an unlikely group of allies rode in to save the day...
1. Deployement

**A/N: **

**Disclaimer: We don't own SAO or any of its characters. We do however own the Hellbound concept and our own characters. Please support the official release. This (currently) one-shot is inspired by the latest SAO arc.**

**Also, spoilers if you're not up-to-date with the series.**

**Consider this a tease for Hellbound, for those of you who liked our other story, War-Torn. - SirStonewall**

**Sorry about the super lack of updates… adult life sucks. Guess what flag Nguyen is flying? - Goodalwayswins98**

**The Armored Cavalry… or the Great Virtual Boogaloo of 2026**

Liz stood with Sinon and the others behind her. Unlike the great gathering hall of ALO, the Alliance's base was far simpler. Tents surrounded a large plaza of sorts, with players standing around casually or sitting on anything ranging from the ground to chairs to tanks. There were no great faction leaders here but instead a mismatch of unit commanders, from players commanding small squads to veterans leading regiments of men and machine, many friends of Nguyen and Stonewall.

The Hellbound community was far different from the ALO one.

"So what the hell is going on, Liz? Don't know why but it sounds bigger than Kirito coming back if you told us to get as many people as we could," Nguyen says, sitting on the front of his M48 Patton tank.

"Yes. We've found out what happened to Kirito and we need your help to save him. What I'm going to tell you is going to be hard to believe," Liz explained seriously, "He's trapped in another VR world called the Underworld where he's supposed to be healing. But the thing is, that VR world is filled with A.I. that are living beings and have souls and emotions just like us."

"Souls and emotions? What the fuck?" Dick muttered as he and Tony shared a look of disbelief, "That's actually possible?"

Liz nodded.

"Shit. Sooooo are they under attack or something?" Stonewall asked, from the hatch of his Stridsvagn 103.

"Yes, there's gonna be tens of thousands of players logging from the United States thinking that it's a game where they can kill anything without consequences. We need your help to save these people. "

"How are we going to do that? Stonewall asked seriously.

"We need you to convert your existing player data to the Underworld so you can come and help us but there are many difficulties with the conversion."

The Hellbound players started looking at each other, muttering their disbelief to each other. Liz hoped that her words would have the same impact as they did with the ALO players.

"So you want us to go save a bunch of AI's from the US government and a bunch of dumbasses because they have souls and because the dumbasses think it's fun but they're committing genocide without knowing it, right?" Nguyen asked, disbelief evident on his face as he summarized everything.

Liz nodded confidently. She had already convinced the ALO players. She just needed to do it again.

"Yes, you've got to believe me."

"I heard, read and saw a lot of messed up shit in my life… but what are we fighting exactly? They coming in as the Nazis? The Communists? They have tanks and shit?"

"No, well it's a world with swords and magic. They'll be dark knights," the engineer explained, "Maybe they'll have magic."

Nguyen suddenly stood up straight and tall.

"Motherfuckers…" he said, grinning slowly, "What are we waiting for?! We have tanks and they don't! We gotta stop this fucking genocide!"

"Hold up, Nguyen," Stonewall suddenly interrupts, "Liz, What's the issue with conversion exactly?"

"The Underworld doesn't have a U.I so we can't log out when we want. We have to die to log out and if we die, we'll lose our player account data. They also only speak Japanese."

"Hm….. give me a minute, I think I might be able to back up all our player data…." Stonewall muttered as he opened his player menu. "Mikey's better at this shit than I am…."

"You do realize that you are talking to a game dev with his own game company right?" Nguyen pointed out, "And we have translation software for conversation."

"Let me get Dex and Mikey here. We'll do a full player game file backup." Stonewall chuckled as Liz's eyes started shining at his words.

"What are the other issues?" Dick asked lazily.

"There's no pain absorber."

"So we keep our distance and don't get diced up." Amy shrugged. "I'm not too enthused about getting trapped in another game, but we've gotta prevent a genocide."

"Just batten down the hatches on our tanks," Nguyen added, "Unless if they have lightsabers or RPG's, we'll be fine."

"That and a lot of Hellbound players play on Hardcore mode, remember?" Stonewall added, "So pain shouldn't be an issue either."

"If anything, they'll run when they'll see tanks appearing on the horizon," Roscoe added, "I don't think getting blown to pieces by tanks is in anyone's definition of fun."

"Think we can bring air support?" another familiar face asked, followed by various players murmuring excitedly amongst themselves, "Any thing flying at Mach 2 will outspeed anything."

"Good idea Tcat! Don't think they have SAM's in there either."

"Liz, I think we'll need some more info and time so we can plan out this boogaloo," Nguyen stated with a huge grin on his face, "But I'll be the first tank in!"

His crew groaned in annoyance behind him.

"Goddammit Nguyen," Lou sighed, "I'll get the tank ready to go."

"And I'll get a different tank. This thing isn't very flexible." Stonewall said with a grin, patting the roof of his Stridsvagn. "Liz, Sinon, come with me. We got some planning to do before we hit the Underworld." He also began typing and sending messages to various players and devs.

"Any volunteers for the first wave?!" Nguyen shouted, waving around a yellow flag with three red stripes, "Rally to me!"

"Logistics! I need logi drivers!" Amy yelled as players began gathering around her and Nguyen.

* * *

"What do we know about this Underworld place?" Stonewall asked. He, Liz and Sinon all stood around a planning table with other leaders in a command tent. "I want some sort of intel."

"Well… not a lot," Liz admitted uneasily, "We know that it's called the Underworld."

"Any maps or anything?" another player spoke up.

"We could send in some people to do some scouting early on," Roscoe suggested, "Get a quick idea of what the place looks like."

"How would they communicate? We don't know if we can send messages back to Hellbound."

"Well, if the bad guys can send in more players… then there's gotta be a way."

"We don't know," Sinon said, "To be honest, we're going in blind."

"Well… that's a risk we've gotta take then." Stonewall muttered, adjusting his USMC tank crewman coveralls.

"If there's no U.I., does that mean that we're going in with whatever we got on our backs?"

"Hellbound has an optional setting for no UI. We've got people setting up logistics as we speak," Stonewall remarked, "We'll be able to do good. How much time do we have?"

"A few hours at the most," Liz reported, "If Agil's calculations are good, they've set everything up so that they'll have the most American players possible."

"How many?"

"30 000 at least but Klein thinks they'll have 100 000 coming in." Sinon answered, "How big is the Hellbound playerbase?"

"That's alot of meat for the grinder." Stonewall chuckled. "Hellbound has a total player base of over two hundred thousand people, but due to time zones only a hundred and thirty thousand people are online on average."

The tent's flap moved, revealing Amy and Nguyen.

"I got enough volunteers to constitute an armored company for the initial force," Nguyen stated, "What's the situation look like?"

"We're going in blind, but it should be a target-rich environment." Stonewall responded with a grim chuckle. "Amy, how's our logistics doing?"

"Enough ammo and fuel to last us a week upon arrival, and we should be able to bring more later via the company."

"How target rich are we talking about?"

"Possibly a hundred thousand."

Nguyen let out a whistle.

"Shit. They're really putting in the package on this," he said, "Think we'll get enough people?"

"We should. If not, we've got a force multiplier in the tanks and planes."

"We should be able to rotate people in and out as well," Nguyen pointed out, "Player base is big enough so…eh! On another note, I even got a speech written down for whoever we're saving over there."

"Oh god."

"Let me go over it before you read it." Stonewall sighed.

"Sure me what you think," Nguyen said as he handed his friend a paper, "I'll head back out and help everyone double check their stuff one last time."

"Okay. Just remember, when you get there, your goal is to secure an area so we can set up a FOB. Don't immediately go headhunting." Stonewall reminded the other tank commander, beginning to read the speech.

"I'll join him in the first wave." Amy said with a grin before she looked at Liz and Sinon. "You look like you wanna talk to me."

Both Japanese girls had serious looks on their faces as they looked at Stonewall and Amy.

"Are you sure about helping us?" Liz asked nervously.

"Let's talk outside." Stonewall responded with a jerk of his head, leading the way out of the command tent. "Get everything packed up and ready to roll people!"

The four players exited the command tent before Stonewall led them to a quiet spot of camp.

"What's on your mind?" he asked seriously, lighting a cigarette.

"We're asking a lot of you already," Liz stalled as she fidgeted, "Are you really sure you want to help us?"

The American looked at her nonchalantly, an eyebrow raised.

"We're asking you to fight against your own country," Sinon finally said.

"Well…" Stonewall sighed, taking a deep drag before continuing. "As an American myself, I feel like it's my duty to make sure my countrymen are behaving themselves."

"I feel the same way." Amy giggled. Both Japanese girls had tears in their eyes but a small smile was etched on their faces.

"Thank you so much," Liz finally said.

"Siblings in arms take care of our own." Stonewall simply replied with a grin, offering a hand, as did Amy. "I know it's not custom in Japan to shake hands, but it seems appropriate."

Both girls raised their hands.

"Thank you very much," Sinon said as she shook Amy's hands, "You have no idea how much this means to us."

"You'd do the same for us." Amy replied, grinning.

Both girls nodded tearfully.

"Yes."

* * *

A large crowd had amassed around a column of tanks and armored vehicles. There were even 'reporters' that covered this moment. Stonewall had arranged this event to be streamed across Hellbound. They would need every tank, gun and player they could get. Standing at a podium, the red-haired American found himself staring out over the crowd in awe of how many players had attended, but that elation quickly disappeared as he activated the microphone and addressed the world.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today marks a milestone in video game history. Amassed before us is the first expeditionary unit, soon be sent to another digital world in the name of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These hand-picked players have selflessly volunteered their time to make this excursion possible, knowing full well the difficulties ahead of them."

Looking down the line of armored vehicles he smiled when he saw Nguyen's tank proudly flying a yellow flag with three red stripes.

"These players, these men and women, all of them come from different ways of life. Teachers, construction workers, fast-food workers and lawyers. Like their ancestors before them they have heeded the call of liberty. Let them feel calm and collected in their battles to come, guided by those who have bravely gone before them."

With the inspiring portion of his speech finished, he smiled and straightened up.

"All units! Prepare to move!"

With a rumble of engines starting and the whine of hydraulic doors closing, the convoy prepared to embark on their journey, the troops mounted in their armored transports and eager to get to the fight.

* * *

The sound of swords clashing, cries of pain and of men dying filled Asuna's ears. She saw soldiers from the Human Empire Army and the Dark Territory Armies being cut down and hacked to pieces by the Dark Knights. Alice and the Integrity Knights were putting up a solid defense but the newfound enemy far outnumbered them. The Dark Knights killed freely without remorse, not knowing that they were slaughtering other living beings.

It was just a game for them as Asuna heard their shouts of glee and pleasure. It sickened her every time that a Underworlder fell, his blood spilling on the cold, barren ground of the Dark Territory. At its worst, SAO was nothing compared to this.

"Stop… stop… STOP!" she shouted at the top of her lungs as she dove back into the melee. Her sword flew through the air, each swing finding its mark and slaying a Dark Knight. Her foot suddenly slipped on a pool of blood. Before she could find her footing, a massive Dark Knight appeared before her.

"Take this!"

His terrible axe fell true and sliced off her arm.

She was surrounded but a blur of light suddenly appeared as the knights surrounding fell one by one, hit by lightning fast balls of fire. She saw a red-skinned, blond man, barely older than her standing fiercely between her and the Dark Knights.

"They're all weak."

The next moments passed in a blur for her as the man effortlessly took down all the Dark Knights surrounding them with a blast of his powers, sending them flying away in a powerful conflagration. After their defeat, Asuna struck a deal with the man, Sheyta confirming his honesty, creating great bridges across the chasm she had made earlier in exchange for his Pugilists' help against the Dark Knights.

As soon as the bridges finished materializing, the Pugilists rushed across with a mighty roar, their thirst for vengeance carrying them into the Dark Knights' ranks.

At the same time, distant thunder and whistling could be heard from behind the Human Empire Army, followed by a series of explosions that shook the battlefield. Rumbling noises soon followed, and the battle fell silent for a moment, everyone in shock at what had just happened.

Asuna, still covered by Sheyta and Iskahn and already impressed at the Pugilist's fighting ability, finished healing her injured arm before looking in disbelief at the source of the explosions.

"No way…"

"What's going on?" Iskahn asked as he looked, "What are those things?!"

Large metal monstrosities had appeared on the horizon, firing fireballs into the ranks of the Dark Knights. Men dove prone to the ground alongside the metal beasts before red-hued fireflies zipped across the open expanse, faster than the eye could track, cutting down the enemy troops like wheat to a thresher.

"Tanks..." Asuna muttered in disbelief, "How…"

Music suddenly filled her ears, coming from the tanks.

'_Này Công Dân ơi! Quốc gia đến ngày giải phóng...__'_

She squinted at the lead tank. A single yellow flag with three red stripes was held up by a man, flying proudly in the wind.

"People of the Underworld! Hold fast and do not despair! I, Colonel Nguyen of South Vietnam and my warriors shall bring hope and aid against the darkness that threatens you on this day! Rejoice, for salvation has arrived!"

The Dark Knights froze in horror at the sight before them.

"What-what the fuck?!"

"Why do they have tanks?!"

Asuna's jaw almost dropped as she saw the tanks blast holes into the ranks of the Dark Knights.

"They're friends…"

"What kind of friends do you have?" Iskahn asked incredulously.

"It's a long story," Asuna replied as she stood up. Before she could go on any further, an injured messenger ran up to her, bearing bad news. Alice had been taken prisoner by Emperor Vecta and Bercouli had gone off after her. Just as the messenger finished his message, Asuna was greeted by a familiar voice.

"Yo! Sorry we're late! Wish we were here earlier!" Nguyen shouted from the cupola of his M48A3.

"How did you get here?!"

"Stonewall and Yui worked their magic, I guess?" he shrugged, "What the hell's going on right now?"

"Emperor Vecta kidnapped Alice and plans to take her to the World's End Altar."

"That sounds bad." A familiar feminine voice spoke up from the back of Nguyen's tank, Amy jumping off and walking over, saluting Asuna. "It's good to see you again."

The American was dressed in woodland MARPAT and had a large rucksack on her back. Draped across her shoulders, an M240B completed the look, which looked nothing less than alien in the Underworld.

"So why do we have to save this Alice?" Nguyen asked as he scanned over the horizon. Tank and infantry fire still resonated across the battlefield.

"Vecta wants the Priestess of Light, which must be Alice," Iskahn explained, "That's what he told the Dark Territory armies before the battle but he never told us why he wanted or what's going to happen once he gets her."

Asuna had a grim look on her face.

"If he gets her to the World's End Altar, this world will be destroyed, both the Human Empire and the Dark Territory will be returned to nothingness."

"How far is it and how long do we have?" Amy asked, adjusting the large machine gun on her shoulders.

"Dragons can't fly forever," Sheyta said calmly, "The most they can fly without rest is half a day."

"Then it looks like you'll have to put your spirit into it and give chase, right?" Iskahn said with a grin, hitting his fists together.

"Smart idea there man," Nguyen praised.

""Give chase?" But aren't you with the Dark Territory Army? Why would you say that?" Asuna asked, perplexed by the man's proposal.

"Emperor Vecta told us, the council of ten, in so many words, that all he was after was the Priestess of Light," the Pugilist leader explained, "The moment he flew away with her, the Emperor's goal was achieved. In other words, whatever we do now, even if it's helping the Human Empire Army steal back the priestess from the emperor, it's our choice. Isn't that right?"

Iskahn clenched his fists.

"I… we… can't defy the emperor directly. If the emperor gives another order to fight all of you, we have to obey. So we, the pugilists guild will stop the red soldiers here. I want you and the Human Empire Army to go after the emperor. And then tell the emperor… that bastard… Let that bastard know! That we're not his damned puppets!"

At the same moment, the Human Empire Army pushed through the largest gap in the Dark Knights' ranks, courtesy of Nguyen's forces. However, another group of Dark Knights charged into their exposed flanks.

"Alright! Everyone! Hold those flanks!" he shouted before turning his attention to Asuna and Sheyta, "And you two get out of here. We can only hold out for so long."

"We'll help clean up these bastards," Nguyen added, "And we'll set up a base so that our reinforcements can link up with us. We got medical personnel for the wounded so ship them to us."

"Thank you." Asuna said to both men.

"I will remain here too," Sheyta declared flatly.

"Understood, Please take care of the rearguard then."

"Hey Asuna, mind if I stick with you?" Amy asked. "As much as I wanna stick with the tanks, you may need my firepower."

"Sure. We've got extra horses."

Very soon, Amy and Asuna were on their horses, dashing as fast as they could to meet up with the Human Empire Army. The surviving 700 soldiers and the rest of the Integrity Knights were easily caught up to. Asuna took the lead as the army moved as fast as it could. The road suddenly dropped into a crater. Still, they pressed on.

Suddenly, long, red streaks descended from the heavens, surrounding them. More Dark Knights materialized, as far as the eye could see. The outnumbered army drew their swords, ready to cut their way through. A lone, green haired knight, riding on his dragon, flew forward, ready to sacrifice.

But it was not to be.

A bright light engulfed the battlefield as a lone silhouette descended from the heavens. A mighty burst of energy materialized from the newcomer before unleashed in a series of explosions that vaporized the Dark Knights in one mighty hammerblow.

"It can't shoot rapid fire? That's fine. Single-shot weapons are more fitting for me, anyway. "

Asuna recognized the silhouette that hovered above with a massive bow, the figure slowly descending to terra firma before smiling at her.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Asuna."

Asuna ran up to Sinon, hugging her tightly.

"Sinon-non."

Amy watched the whole thing unfold, having not gotten a chance to unwrap the belt from around the receiver of her 240B. "You have awesome timing Sinon. Nice shooting."

"Thanks Amy. How long have you guys been here?"

"Less than an hour. Just long enough to get stuck in."

**Four hours later**

**Hellbound**

**US alliance/pact cease-fire zone**

"That should be the last of the upgrades. Dex, did the team finish the item I requested?"

"You bet they did. I knew I hired you for something. This thing is brilliant."

"Hold the praise until we know it works. I'd hate for us to go through all this trouble just to have it not work." Stonewall muttered, lighting a cigarette.

"I suppose that's true." Dex grunted, "anyway, how's the initial round of logistics looking?"

"Looking like they're complete. Everything Is loaded in trucks." Stonewall yawned as he stretched.

"Has everyone practiced enough?"

"I sure as hell hope so. We gotta get in there. Part of me is nervous about leaving the unluckiest bastard around in charge of our military."

"What about the other part of you?"

"The other part of me is wondering if this is considered treason or not…."

"While I'm thinking about it, why the fuck are we hacking someone else's game from our office?"

"Because…. you wanted to help them, your wife would kill you, and I don't have the space at my place?"

"... Whatever bro. Let's get everyone ready to roll."

Starting towards a psy-ops HMMWV, Stonewall noticed a redheaded woman with a radio pack walking towards him.

"Alice, what's up?"

"I've been doing some data mining on the Underworld. I found what the main color of foliage is gonna be, so you can camouflage your vehicles better."

"What's the verdict?" Dex asked.

In response, Alice removed a strip of dark purple cloth, looking like it was stained by an exotic fruit. "The ground looks like this."

"So Nguyen's force sticks out like a sore thumb." Stonewall concluded.

"Yup."

"Fuck. Can we get uniforms in this color quickly?"

"We already have them. Everyone in your army group already has them in their inventory. Just equip it." Alice replied to Stonewall with a grin.

"And what about the tanks?"

Opening her inventory, the redhead tapped on a tab and activated a line of code, turning all the vehicles' camouflage into that same one-tone maroon.

Stonewall's quickly developing grin spoke volumes about his opinion before he even opened his mouth.

"Oh yes. This will do."

**Author's endnote**

**Hope you guys enjoyed this and, hopefully, we'll be able to update War-Torn soon. As for this fic, we'll wait until the end of the next SAO arc to update it.**


	2. Reinforcements

**CHAPTER 2: Reinforcements **

Atop a small bluff in the underworld, a single M60A3 TTS sat, nestled into a hull-down position as a sentry while Combat Engineers slaved away on the plateau behind them, filling Hescoe barriers with dirt and rock using several Bobcat loaders and backhoes. Sandbags were filled for emplacements and steel posts were pounded into the ground to support concertina wire. Steel pipes were welded together to make raised shooting platforms and planks were laid on top to give soldiers a place to stand. Shelters were dug in case for some reason munitions began landing inside the H-barriers, and the engineers had just begun building lodging for all the troops soon to be residing there when the tank crew had checked in last.

Inside their home on tracks, the crew were relaxed, the driver asleep while the commander and gunner stayed on the lookout.

"Hey, it's almost time for our check-in, isn't it?" The bored loader asked, sitting on his seat.

"Yeah. See anything yet, Landreth?" The commander inquired, scanning with a pair of binoculars.

"Nope. Nothin' but rocks. Might've seen some movement earlier, but I'm pretty sure it was just my eyes playing tricks on me."

"Check on thermals."

….

"H-holy shit! Contact, Tank front! Friendlies!"

The second Landreth glanced through his main sight and flipped on thermals, the hills lit up, multiple large signatures crawling over the hills to join one solitary M1A2 Abrams.

_{Paladin One-Six, this is Druid One-Actual. Reinforcements have arrived.}_

Scrambling to answer the radio, the tall commander clicked his headset forward and adjusted his microphone on his CVC helmet. "Druid One-Actual, Paladin One-Six. Welcome to the party. FOB Liberty is almost finished and COP Kitty is being built now."

_{Roger that Paladin One-Six, stay on post until Archer One-Three comes to relieve you, break. Then move to FARP Eagle by COP Kitty and standby after topping off on any ammo or fuel you may need.}_

"Roger that One-Actual. Standing by until Archer One-Three relieves us."

"Bro, ain't that Stonewall, the dev?" Landreth asked, having listened to the conversation on the squawk box.

"Hell yeah, and I'll bet he's here to kick some ass."

**Six hours later**

"One-Six!" A voice yelled, echoing through the motor pool and rousing the tank crew from their slumber.

"Yo!" The tank commander yelled back, cigarette hanging from his mouth while standing guard.

"You guys wanna go get some?" Stonewall asked, grinning.

"Fuck yeah! Eh… Sir!" The loader yelled with a sharp salute.

"At ease. Don't hold me higher than everyone else." Stonewall replied with a chuckle.

"Okay, but… once this is all over, can I get your autograph?"

Stonewall blinked owlishly for a second before laughing. "What's your name?"

"Lee Foster, Sir."

"Pleasure to meet you Lee. Cut it with the 'sir' crap. I'll get you my autograph once we're outta here. For now, mount up and I'll ground-guide you."

In minutes, the crew had packed up anything that was left out and climbed into their tank, following Stonewall after starting up. The ginger guided them through the packed motor pool to the gate, where his own M1 Abrams and a pair of Bradley IFV were off to the side. There, the crews were performing last-minute checks on equipment and bullshitting with each other while _'for whom the bell tolls' _played through the squawk box of one of the Bradleys. Upon seeing the Ginger walking towards them, the crews wrapped up what they were doing and climbed into their vehicles, infantry mounting up in the backs of the Bradleys. Finally stopping the tank, Stonewall jogged to his tank and grabbed a CVC helmet off the front slope as he climbed up and dropped into his hatch, the turbine engine of his tank slowly spooling up before finally settling into an idle.

_{Paladin One-Six, this is Druid One-Actual. Comms check, over.}_

"Druid One-Actual, Five by five, Over."

_{Paladin One-Six, be advised, I talked to Paladin One-Actual earlier. He let me know you weren't exactly happy with guard duty. As such, you are now designated Druid One-Four. Welcome to the party. Over.}_

"Hey Ware, did we just get volunteered to join Stonewall's platoon?" Foster asked, looking at his commander.

"I think so." Ware responded, lighting up a cigarette before responding. "Roger that. Druid One-Four standing by."

_{One-Four, you will be second in line. Druid One-Two will be in front of you. Make your best speed and we'll adjust accordingly.}_

"Solid copy. We're ready to move out."

_{Druid One-Two, lead us out, nice and slow.}_

_{Druid One-Two copies. Leaving the wire.} _A female voice came over the radio, sounding deadly serious as one of the two Bradley's pulled out in front of Ware's tank.

"Alright Jake, let's go. Don't rear-end the Bradley."

"_That happened ONE TIME!"_ The driver yelled as the tank began crawling forward, matching speed with the Bradley while Landreth traversed the turret to ten 'o' clock after they've left the perimeter. Behind them, Stonewall's tank traversed its turret to two 'o' clock and the commander sat on the turret roof, talking with his loader for a moment. Eventually, he looked at the Patton tank in front of him.

_{One-Four. Settle in. We're in for a bit of a drive.}_

* * *

Critter slammed his fist in annoyance as he looked at the screen. Platoons of players from _Hell-Bound _and _War-Torn_ were swarming the Underworld and Dark Territory.

Along with all their hardware.

Despite his best efforts, there was no way for him to stop the tides of players arriving into the Underworld. Whoever set this up knew what they were doing, and the hordes of mechanized troops were far more organized than he ever could have expected.

So far, the initial wave of his players had been slaughtered by the armoured assault. Social media and forums were slowly filling up with complaints that it was some kind of trap meant to grease up XP gain for the Hell-Bound and War-Torn players while others exhorted the two communities to throw themselves into the battle for the Underworld, claiming that innocent lives were at stake. The tanks and infantrymen made mincemeat of any new arrivals not loyal to their cause, the dancing fireflies of tracers clearing the fields of anyone brave -or foolish- enough to challenge them in a 'fair' fight.

Luckily for Critter… the enemy's big guns weren't everywhere, their expansion limited by fuel and ammunition.

His latest waves were concentrated around some ruins further away from the mechanized forces, and they were slowly overwhelming the AI's and their allies.

And, glancing at his watch, he realized something that made him grin;

Another plan was in motion.

* * *

**Hellbound, **

**Admin DMZ, USA.**

"Dex! Where are you at?!"

Rushing through the halls of the in-game office, Alice dodged and weaved through the cubicles and interns, looking for the lead admin, eventually giving up on finding him the old fashioned way. She quickly activated her admin menu and teleported herself to him, finding him in the intel office with a couple interns, looking at multiple UAV camera feeds. "Dex, you oughta see this."

"What is it?"

"Remember how you asked me to look into how the enemy communicated before going into the Underworld? They've been using forums."

"That's great! But what do I need to see?" He asked, glaring at the interns when they looked away from the camera feeds.

"The same guy who was organising the enemy just popped up on one of _our_ forums a couple hours ago."

"What?! What did he say?" He yelled as he snapped his head to look at the red-haired admin, a tablet in her hands, which she quickly offered to him.

—

9 hours ago:

Cr1tt3r1234_:__ Hey Everyone!_

_Just heard that the Underworld theatre Alliance-Pact truce is ending. Once it ends, everyone gets double XP for any kill they make regardless of who they're fighting! _

_Happy Hunting! _

—-

"Get that shit deleted immediately and post a warning. Anyone caught team killing in the underworld will be given a thirty day ban and a three month restriction from any post-1970 equipment or vehicles."

"You got it Boss!" She snapped with a salute, teleporting herself back to her office and sitting down at her desk, setting about what she'd been instructed to do, but not before trying to back-trace the IP of 'Critter', using Hellbound's massive server to hide her IP.

While the trace was running, she deleted Critter's post and posted a simple warning.

—

Just now:

Alice (H-B A): _No, the Alliance-Pact truce is NOT over in the Underworld. To anyone thinking team killing in Underworld is a good idea, here's your one and only warning: Anyone caught teamkilling in Underworld will be given __**a thirty-day ban and a three-month restriction from any post-1970 equipment.**__ Players may eliminate teamkillers without punishment. That is all. Use your brain, people._

—

"There." Alice muttered, checking on the trace only to stare in shock when she found the trace showing her own IP. It took her a moment to realize that Critter must have countermeasures against being traced. Cutting the trace, she sipped at some coffee and giggled.

"You sneaky bastard…"

After all, she loved a challenge.

* * *

"All Druid One elements, standby for contact. This has been a hotspot of activity."

_{Druid One-Four copies, loading H-E.}_

Standing up on his seat, Stonewall charged the M2 in the CROWS mount on the roof of his tank, something he had neglected to do earlier out of laziness.

"Lion! Gimme a CAN round!"

"_You got it!"_

With a hiss of hydraulics that were barely audible over the sound of the engine, the large viking-bearded loader pulled a Canister shell out and spun it around before he slammed it into the gun breech, flipping the arming handle up once the ammo door closed. _"Up!"_

"_You realize we gotta get close to use CAN, right?" _A skinny man chuckled into the intercom, peering through his gunner's sight.

"Yeah Wolf, I know."

_{Contact! Infantry, Front!}_ The lead Bradley reported, _{Convoy halt!}_

"How many?" Stonewall asked her.

_{Couple hundred. Possibly a thousand.}_

"Copy. All units, line formation. Two-Two, Two-Three, once we're in position, offload your troops."

_{Roger!)_

_{Copy, moving.}_

"Badger, move us up. Get on line to the left of One-Four."

"_Moving out."_

Grabbing the controls for his M2, Stonewall began scanning as his tank moved up, watching until they were roughly in line with the Bradleys and Patton.

"Badger, halt. Wolf, identify, infantry front, five-hundred meters."

"_On Target!" _

"Fire."

"_On the way!"_

With a muted thump the breech kicked back and spat the aft-cap into the collector, sending a thousand tungsten ball bearings crashing into the ranks of the dark knights charging at them. Within seconds, a massive fireball ballooned over Stonewall's tank, making him pivot the CROWS mount to find the source, finally spotting Druid One-Four engulfed in flames, its turret knocked off the ring.

"What the fuck just happened?!"

_{Druid One-Four just took a hit from our front! Confirmed tank!}_

"Can you get a TOW on it?!"

_{Negative. They backed off after they fired.}_

"Loader, gimme a sabot! Driver, flank speed forward!"

"_What the fuck's going on?!"_ Wolf yelled into the intercom, flipping the ammo selector to Sabot while the loader slammed a shell into the breech and slapped the arming handle up.

"_UP!"_

"Druid One-Four suffered an ammo detonation thanks to a tank to our front. We're killing the bastard!" Stonewall snarled, firing his M2 into the still-advancing knights while 25mm cannon shells ripped into the same targets. "Two-Two, Two-Three, pop smoke and retreat until we have this tank taken care of!"

The two Bradley commanders acknowledged his order just as Stonewall's tank slammed into the knights at full speed, some trying and failing to jump out of the way. Nobody in its path was spared as tracks crushed and the hull pushed anyone down and under the seventy-ton tank.

"Driver, slight left." Stonewall ordered, "we'll try to flank him."

His crew sat tense as they closed the distance, ready to spring into action at any moment. After having been referred to by their roles, they knew their commander was in the zone, ready for a type of warfare that they'd almost mastered.

And after a minute, they crested a ridge and found what they were looking for: a T-72 painted in Underworld camouflage.

"Gunner, identify, tank front!"

"_On target!"_

"Fire!"

* * *

Asuna's blade cut through ranks of dark knights. It was an absolute charnel house, the fallen Human Empire troops lying in pools of blood everywhere. The soldiers were outmatched by the Dark Knights players. They cleaved through ever thinning ranks of soldiers despite Asuna's best efforts. Growing increasingly frustrated with Amy's sudden disappearance, the bloodied swordswoman began taking out her frustration on the Dark Knights, yelling for the ex-samurai to do something repeatedly while she fought off attack after attack. Asuna looked up with dread and anger as more Dark Knights appeared before her. They charged without hesitation their weapons high. Asuna gripped her sword firmly, ready to stand her ground one last time… when a seven-second burst of automatic fire ripped into the Dark Knights, clearing a wide swath from in front of her. As if a switch had been flipped, the Knights were suddenly far from confident as a murmur of "Tanks?" rippled through their ranks, their heads looking around in terror.

Before anyone could understand what happened, a bright light appeared in the red skies above them, followed by a loud screeching sound that filled everyone's ears.

"Enemy reinforcements?" Asuna muttered, despair in her voice. Her sword wavered a bit.

The beam of light turned into a silhouette before becoming a tornado that shredded through the Dark Knights effortlessly. Limbs, torsos, and heads flew around, one landing in front of Asuna before disappearing in a storm of pixels.

"A sword… skill?" Asuna muttered before recognizing the newcomer, "You're…"

The familiar samurai threw a big grin as he looked at her.

"Hey! Sorry to keep you waiting, Asuna," he said casually.

"Klein…"

Behind Asuna, a clatter of rubble shifting revealed a grinning Amy, her M240 in her hands. "Klein! That was fucking badass!"

Klein's grin grew massive.

Asuna looked up and saw the skies glow once more. Thousands of beams of light appeared in the skies. More of their friends and allies began descending upon the Dark Territory while the echo of explosions and guns drew closer in the distance. A bright red flare shot into the sky.

Turning her radio volume up, Amy pressed the push-to-talk button. "Horseman One-Actual, Gypsy One-Two. Is that you I hear in the distance? Over."

_{Gypsy One-Two is Horseman One-Actual. Tell everyone that the cavalry is on its way! That big light show in the skies, friendly or not?}_

"Horseman One-Actual. The light show is friendly this time, break. You may want to hurry or you're going to miss the party, over."

_{Gypsy One-Two we're greasing our tracks with their guts!}_

Amy grinned and walked over to Asuna, using a handkerchief to wipe the blood off her face before walking to Klein and speaking to the surrounding dark knights, her voice echoing through the ruins. The Human Empire troops tightened their grip on their worn swords as they witnessed everything. Hope was returning to their battered hearts.

"Listen up! There's a platoon of tanks almost here! We can do this the easy way, or the hard way! Anyone who doesn't want their ass kicked better leave or surrender now!"

The Dark Knights merely shrugged before rushing forward as the beams of light descended faster and faster.

Amy yanked her M240 up to her hip and fired, her burst only lasting a second or so before it quit. "Gotta reload! Asuna, Switch!"

Before any of the two girls could react, a Dark Knight tried to charge from behind them. A mighty slash crashed down on him as a familiar silhouette appeared.

"Agil!"

More flashes appeared.

"Liz! Silica! You came!"

"Of course we'd come!" Liz claimed as she and Asuna clasped each other's hands.

"How could we not?" Silica asked warmly before the three girls embraced each other.

"You've been pushing so hard… look how banged up you are," Liz remarked, "You're overdoing it Asuna."

"Leave the rest to us. Everyone's here!" Silica added.

"Everyone?"

More and more ALO players materialized. Asuna recognized so many of them. Eugene of the Salamanders, Sakuya of the Sylphs, Alicia Rue of the Cait Siths. They had arrived with whatever players they could muster. Even the last of the Sleeping Knights were here!

With great war cries, they threw themselves at the stunned Dark Knights while their leaders coordinated the counter attack.

"It's not like we have a personal beef with you, but we're gonna make you pay for what you did to our friend. Three times the amount… no, a thousand! You bastards!" Klein declared before he and Agil charged into battle, their weapons held high. Amy hurried to roll a new belt into the feed tray of her M240, seeing a chance to fight alongside her boyfriend before she realized the possibility of friendly fire and shook her head, walking over to Asuna.

The four players stood transfixed as they saw their friends fight harder than ever. Asuna drew her sword but a voice suddenly spoke up.

"Lady Asuna? Who exactly are these people?" Renly asked, flanked by two guards, "And also… those knights?"

She smiled at the Integrity Knight.

"They're my precious friends! They've come from the real world to help us."

Renly and his guards gasped in surprise before he walked over to Liz and Silica.

"Is that right? I'm so glad! I thought that everyone from the outside world, aside from Lady Asuna or Lady Amy, would look scary, like those soldiers or iron golems."

"Of course not!" Liz exclaimed, "I'm Lisbeth! Nice to meet you Mr. Knight!"

"I'm Silica! It's very nice to meet you!" the smaller girl said with a bow.

"My name is Amelia. Nice to meet you." Amy says with a grin, bowing respectfully, like she's not bothered by all the weight on her person.

"Right! Nice to meet you! My name is Renly," he said, shaking everyone's hands.

Asuna's face hardened.

"Liz, Amy, how many people converted in all?"

"Maybe a little over 2000 from ALO, I think? I couldn't convince every single player who heard me out." Liz reported sadly before turning away in shame.

"That's more than enough and every little bit counts," Asuna said, putting a comforting hand on Liz's shoulder, "Amy, what about the War-Torn and Hellbound players?"

"So far, we've got a battlegroup under Nguyen's command with 5 companies. Roughly 500 players."

"Only 500?" Liz asked, surprised at the rather low tally.

"That's all our logistics could support at first, _and_ that's all we could find on such short notice. I imagine we've got at least four times that coming in the second wave."

"What about Stonewall?" Silica asked curiously, "Isn't he here yet?"

"He said he would be in the lead elements of the second wave. So he's probably here already."

Asuna took note of all the information she got.

"In order to minimize our casualties and keep reconverting possible, I'd avoid a war of attrition. We'll keep the perimeter small and bolster our healing. Once Nguyen and his forces arrive, we'll be able to expand our defenses and keep the enemy away until more reinforcements arrive."

She then looked at Liz and Silica.

"Liz, Silica, I want you to fall back with 200 or so and form a support unit," she ordered.

"Understood!" Silica exclaimed.

"Okay! You can count on us!" Liz added with a raised thumb.

Asuna then turned to Renly and ordered him to aid the monks in healing the wounded as well as teaching the newly arrived ALO players how to use the Underworld's formal arts to heal.

"I'll stay with you since I have comms, and if anyone breaks through our line I'll engage targets of opportunity." Amy relayed to Asuna, charging her machinegun. Asuna nodded in agreement.

"Can you contact Nguyen and ask him where he is then?"

"Sure thing." The ex-samurai said with a nod, pushing the PTT button on her radio. "Horseman One-Actual, Gypsy One-Two. Status report."

After a few seconds, the radio came to life

_{Horseman One-Actual here! We have a visual on your position. We are arriving on the Northern side of the ruins and will be within weapons range in 5 minutes!}_

"Roger that One-Actual. Engage and destroy. Be mindful of crossfire."

_{Gypsy One-Two, tell everyone to stay put on the Northern flank. We got a big surprise for them! Over!}_

"Copy that, Out."

Turning her radio volume down after passing a spare radio to Asuna, Amy turned to everyone on the front line and yelled "HOLD THE LINE!"

A great cheer came from the Human and ALO lines as they fought with great vigor. The clash of swords resonated throughout the ruins as not one side put a single step back. The desperate defenders refused to yield a single brick while the Dark Knights hurled themselves forward with ever more ferocity.

"Where's Nguyen?!" Asuna exclaimed, looking at Amy, as she saw the fighting grow more and more intense. The ranks of the Dark Knights weren't thinning fast enough.

"Horseman One-Actual, engage as soon as you can! We're gonna start losing people soon!"

_{Gypsy One-Two, Dragon One-Actual. Engaging the enemy.}_

"Dragon One-Actual, where the fuck is Horseman?!"

_{Horseman is right behind us. We're making some breathing room.}_

"What?!"

Asuna looked at Amy in confusion as she heard a completely different voice on the radio set answering them.

"Wait…" Amy muttered, slowly connecting the dots. "Dragon… holy shit..!"

A great roar followed by inhuman screaming filled everyone's ears. The screaming grew closer and closer. A horrified Renly ran up to Asuna and Amy.

"Lady Asuna, Lady Amelia!" he gasped, fear all across his face, "There are green iron monsters burning up the Dark Knights! We must stop them before-"

"They're with us Renly. Calm yourself." Amy said with a grin, watching the rear of the Dark Knights' ranks become engulfed in flames.

A wide-eyed Asuna had already seen flamethrowers being used in _War-Torn _and _Hellbound_ but never at such a scale. Two M67 Zippos were burning through the enemy's ranks with impunity. The flames consumed all in their path as burning Dark Knights tried to run away or put out the fires. The screaming knights spread the flames as they ran into each other in a panic, their front line surging forward in an effort to escape, only to be shoved back towards the flames. The air grew heavy with the stench of burning flesh as the fighting momentarily stopped.

"What… what kind of allies do you have?" Renly stammered, horrified. Asuna couldn't answer, but Amy grinned before she looked at him.

"The best kind."


End file.
